Martin Vella

I have been drawing and painting for sixty years. I am a self taught primitive who decided many years ago to forego any formal training to make my work unique to me. No one paints like I do. My work is imbued with the sum of my life experiences.

I am the great grandson of VanGogh (spent a few months in a Navy psychiatric ward, made some nice wallets), Gaugin (at 18 I moved from upstate New York to Southern California, so much better than the South Seas), Matisse (I inherited his love of color) and Picasso (his artistic bravery and of course his life style).

I have always fought against man’s inhumanity. Tried to stop the first Gulf War. Ran for President against Bush 1 and Clinton as an artist. It was that vision thing. Tried to stop the bombing and ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia with a 10x12 foot painting on a downtown building.

I only paint women. They have been demeaned and excluded for far too long. I believe they are the world’s future if we are to survive as a planet. When I do paint a man I paint myself and always as a harlequin jester.

My body of work includes pencil, pen, crayon, pastels, watercolor and oil. I have produced thousands of drawings and hundreds of paintings. I’ve chosen this quixotic life and h...